E-Mail This Article to a Friend Number crunchers The applied math of Advance Wars BY MITCH KRPATA
	Advance Wars: Dual Strike For Nintendo DS | Rated E for Everyone | Developed by Intelligent Systems | Published by Nintendo

Remember word problems in math class? Trains speeding through the night from one remote depot to the next, careering around sharp turns, always traveling at speeds and distances measured in multiples of five. Sure, it seemed exciting, but it was really little more than elementary algebra. Change the diverging trains to massive, mechanized armies, put the result in video-game form, and you’ll have something suspiciously like Advance Wars: Dual Strike.

Advance Wars posits that battles can be waged and won by comparing hit points, that major conflicts can be over in a matter of days, and that you can always generate new soldiers in a factory. It’s a lot like the way George Bush views warfare. Unlike him, though, you’ll have complete control over every aspect of your army on the field: allocating resources, directing troop movements, and picking targets to attack via a top-down battlefield view.

Dual Strike is the third in the Advance Wars series of turn-based strategy games. New in this installment is the capacity to switch between commanding officers during battle. Each CO has different strengths and weaknesses; one might specialize in indirect fire, another might provide extra punch in up-close infantry battles. Choosing the right one can be the difference between an easy victory and a grueling war of attrition, so it’s worth trying to exploit this feature. (CO Jake’s specialty seems to be saying things like "word" and "owned" and meaning it.) The tag-team feature comes into play in the eponymous Dual Strike, whereby you can unleash hell on the enemy and know that somewhere General Patton is smiling.

Otherwise, Advance Wars: Dual Strike is not a whole lot different from every other strategy game. Each of your many units has its own strengths and weaknesses, as well as particular rules governing its movement. You can produce several types of tanks and mobile infantry, anti-air guns, artillery, rockets, and more, and that’s not even mentioning your sea- and air-based materiel. On a given turn, you can move each unit and attack any targets within range. You get as much time as you need; when you pull off some flawless gamesmanship, you’ll feel positively Belichickian.

One of the neater aspects is a terrain feature called "The Fog of War." Some battlefields are obscured by actual fog; you’ll be able to see only within a limited radius of each unit, and that adds to the importance of reconnaissance and gaining the high ground.

Of the killer apps released for the Nintendo DS this year, Advance Wars does the least with the touchscreen interface. In fact, using the stylus to direct troops and navigate menus is downright clumsy. After the third or fourth time you direct a unit to stand down when you wanted it to fire (and then realize you can’t change your decision, which is exasperating), you’ll probably switch to the traditional D-pad and button control. The absence of time constraints should help eliminate costly input errors.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike isn’t for everyone. Battles are complex and time-intensive and may require more dedication than you’re willing to give a handheld system unless you’re stuck on a plane. (Prepare to spend hours on a single battle.) But those who are so inclined will find an uncommonly absorbing experience.

Score: 7 (out of 10)